Shoe Advice Needed

Hello,

I'm looking for a pair of nice brown wingtips to wear for work. I'm a school teacher, and while I would love to drop some coin on a pair of Aldens, or AEs, I'm afraid they would just get thrashed over the course of the school year. I'm looking in the $200 range. hopefully something nice, but not so expensive that be upset when they get scuffed or dinged in the classroom (because it will happen). Thanks for any recommendations.

Karl

Every now and then Jos A Bank offers AE wingtips & cap toe shoes along with a 20% discount on your entire order. The last 3 pair I bought were @ a net of $207 per pair. Even AE detractors would admit this to being a good value, I think.

Ron I

I firmly believe in buying the best shoes (that fit), that you can afford. That said $200 is a lot to spend on shoes. All of my AE have been less than that bought on clearance. Check out their clearance sales at "Shoe bank". http://www.shoebank.com The regular AE site is having clearance and after Christmas sales. Those sales on the regular site appear to have some better deals than the shoe bank. So check out both site. The shoe bank are seconds and clearance / out of production models. Note The store that has the shoe will ship directly to you. If you happen to have an AE outlet near you, they can search computer inventory and have the shoes shipped to the store for you to try on a pair.

I have a pair similar to these and love them.

http://www.shoebank.com/FactorySecondInventory.php?STY=8692S&DIM=D&SIZE=110

Allen Edmonds Sale

Spend a little more and get a pair of AE. When they get thrashed, you can send them to AE for re-crafting. They'll come back looking like new.

In my experience, a dinged up pair of quality shoes looks better than a creased and collapsing pair of cheaper shoes. If you keep your shoes properly polished, they actually won't get too dinged up short of gouging them or cutting them on a sharp edge. How often do you really do that? And even then as long as the integrity of the shoe isn't compromised, they can be repaired will be passable for daily school teacher/business casual wear.

If you still balk at Allen Edmonds or equivalent, look for sales and seconds as mentioned above. If you STILL want to hold back on the pricey stuff, then Johnston & Murphy is a fairly solid entry-level brand. DSW's house brand is OK for "beaters". I've also heard good things about To Boot New York, however I have not tried them myself. Note that the $200-range for all these brands will probably not be resolable, so you have to consider the price over the lifetime of the shoe.

Whatever you do, get two pairs and rotate them. Use shoe trees. Shine and condition them. This will keep them looking good (and protected) for as long as possible.

LogisticEarth said:

Whatever you do, get two pairs and rotate them. Use shoe trees. Shine and condition them. This will keep them looking good (and protected) for as long as possible.

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Great advice.

Not nearly as fancy as Alden or AE but for the money Florsheim and Bostonian are still hardy shoes. Look for leather shoes that can be re-soled or new heels put on them to make them last longer. At if you find them on sale you can probably get two pair for roughly $200 to last that much longer. Swap them out every other day.
My two cents worth.
Johnny

alaskamcghee said:

Not nearly as fancy as Alden or AE but for the money Florsheim and Bostonian are still hardy shoes.

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I've seen some shoes from both of these brands disintegrate within a short period. Flaking finish, split soles, etc. The "premium" lines they offer (e.g. Florsheim's Imperial line) are a bit better, but then you're pushing $200 per pair, which is entering the range of AE seconds or J&M, which have better quality leather. Proceed with caution.

vvvv Both Florsheim and Bostonian have gone way downhill. Vintage pairs from the 80's or earlier are very different than the modern day products. You'll see someone get a good gem on Ebay occasionally, but if you're buying new there's a lot more solid bets than current production.

I have a pair of Bostonian shoes that I bought in the late 80s. Great shoes.

More than one cobbler has commented on the quality of the leather. Over the years, I have re-heeled them several times, and this year I re-soled them.

I have no idea if 2015 Bostonian shoes are of the same quality.

2 ideas -

Johnston & Murphy will fill the bill for you.

Also, look on eBay for a used pair of AE's. I have bought 3-4 pairs of used shoes (AE's and others) on eBay and All have been at great prices and in good shape.

Are teachers making more money these days?

My personal favorite has been Ecco. Followed by Clarks. I find their price to be easy to swallow, and they've held up well also.

I have bought AEs for years. I wear a A width and have a high instep so can't wear Belmorals, so I have less choices since AE cut the number of sizes in half the line. With the lack of choices and the higher prices i have gone to buying used AEs on Ebay.
I only buy shoes that are near new. I assume these come from estate sales. I purchased four pair for about $100 EACH, while a new pair of AEs goes for $385.

For wingtips are way old school. There are some newer versions that to me are stylish. The old ones remind me of those worn by Mr. Bob, my art teacher in the 5th grade...

I'll throw in a vote for Cole Haan. I have several pairs, they are built to last and look good after years of use (with proper care!)

When I was teaching I found Johnson and Murphy Aristocrafts held up very well for the money. If you go to one of their many outlets they will be right around your $200 mark.

BSAGuy said:

2 ideas -

Johnston & Murphy will fill the bill for you.

Also, look on eBay for a used pair of AE's. I have bought 3-4 pairs of used shoes (AE's and others) on eBay and All have been at great prices and in good shape.

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I'll second this. As long as you aren't looking for their top end balmorals like Park Ave, Strand, etc, you should be able to pick up two nearly new pairs of AE's for comfortably under $200, have enough left for good shoe trees and polish, and be able to rotate them to save the quality. I'm up to well over a dozen pairs of AE, not a single pair purchased from anywhere but eBay, and I think the most I spent was $119 on a pair of brand new Franciscans that I fell in love with in Walnut. They even had the AE rubber sole caps and plastic heel strikes already in place. The rest have been from $30-$85, and I wouldn't consider any pair "rough" or in need of reconditioning. I had one pair show up with aftermarket soles that had been stitched straight through the insole, but those went straight back to the seller the day I opened the package and saw what had happened.

Two pairs from the shoe bank would be a great person pick up. Mcallisters with vtread and maybe a park avenue.

I am a pharmacist and spend a lot of time on my feet.. My choice is Allen Edmonds, the models with what they call a double oak, or double thickness leather sole. I also like that they have a one piece thick leather insole, not "bonded fiber" ie cardboard as in so many shoes. Wearing a 12A size I do not have a lot of choices. In the past I have had Forsheim Imperials which were comfortable and wore well.

Watch the AE sales, and spend the money on some good shoes. You would be better off to bit the bullet and purchase two pair, and always alternate days to let them dry and air out, with a good pair of wooden shoe trees in them I have a pair of AE McNeil in Cordovan that are almost 20 years old, admittedly they are only worn once every week or so, but that's still a long time for a pair of dress shoes. What I like about the AE with the leather insole is that mold to your foot after a week or so and are extremely comfortable, when you first put them on, they sometimes feel like boards under your foot.